The Dichotomy of Moon and Sun
by Ireina Kurotsuki
Summary: Semi-AU, Wammy's House era MelloxNearxMello: “She said that I have the beauty of the moon. But- the moon’s beauty is only ever a pale reflection of the sun’s radiance.” Yet Mello couldn't seem to understand this. Set of two themed one-shots.


**Moonlight**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occurred, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock).

**Warning: Alternate Universe (and therefore the semi-OOC that tends to go with it) and Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! MelloxNear  
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**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

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So I realised that I had not just one, but _two_ random(ish) one-shots, and that both of them revolved around the theme of the sun and the moon. These came from a random sentence or two I wrote during my final Physics exam, and for some odd reason I saw fit to type this one first.

This is basically going to be a set of non-related drabbles that have something to do with the theme of the sun and moon. This first one is MelloxNearxMello, and is set in an AU version of Wammy's House.

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"You're so beautiful! As beautiful as the moon, Near! Why don't you ever date anyone?" Mello hears the hint come from some stupid girl, and scowls. Why on Earth do all the girls at the orphanage want to date the _sheep_ of all people?

"Because I do not wish to... May." Near responds somewhat vaguely, selecting one of the blank pieces of his puzzle and easily slotting it into the correct place.

Mello feels his scowl mutate into a ferocious grin. The younger boy _never_ accepts, (of course, it's _Near_ after all) and yet Mello cannot help but feel vindictively happy each time Near easily runs them off sobbing with his quiet, detached refusal. Mello watches idly as the stupid girl's eyes become glassy and tears begin to slide down her face in free-fall.

"My name's _June_!" she cries, running off, presumably to her room.

"And another one bites the dust." Matt murmurs, still clicking away with ferocious speed at the buttons of his handheld game.

"You'd think they'd get the damn hint after the first dozen or so he's done that to." Mello snorts, tearing the wrapper off another bar of dark sweet perfection, taking a large bite with relish, carefully hiding his childish glee behind his customary mask of utter disdain.

"Yess..." Matt says, actually pausing his game in order to look up at Mello intently, mischief gleaming in his verdant eyes. "You would _think_ that _people_ would get the _hint_ by now."

"And just _what_ d' you mean by that?" Mello demands.

"Just that." Matt answers enigmatically, returning to his game. Mello always hates it when his best friend does that. It annoys him _no_ end. "And, you _do _realise that you get as many of them as he does?"

"True, but at least I don't get them spouting all that crap about, what was it, 'moonlike-beauty' or some such thing." Mello scoffs, forcing a laugh expertly.

"No, you're right." Matt admits. But he isn't fooled by that fake laugh. He never is, and Mello knows it. "But still, it really shouldn't bother _you_ of all people when girls call Near a beauty." Matt points this out with his customary blunt insight.

"It _doesn't_." Mello exclaims irritably. "But you get damn _sick_ of hearing it!"

"Agreed, Mello." comes a soft voice from behind him. Mello jumps, swinging violently around, ready to round on the idiot who attempted to (and successfully _did_) sneak up on him. Dark eyes ringed with a barely visible line of silver stare slightly up at him from a cherubic face, white curls falling gracefully across birch-pale skin.

"What the _hell_, Near?! You move way too fucking quietly!" he exclaims guiltily, attempting to cover the fact that he'd actually been _staring_ at the boy for a brief second.

"I apologise for startling Mello." said boy murmurs without a trace of remorse in those strange eyes, a hand reaching up as he twined a finger into that _one_ curl that he always seemed to be twirling.

"You didn't startle me, idiot, you just move too quietly. What're you doing over here anyway?"

"I could not help but over hear Mello and Matt's conversation- actually there is a probability of at _least_ fifty seven percent that the majority of the orphanage could not have helped overhearing it actually..." Near trails off, those silver-ringed orbs staring knowingly at Mello, as though he can see- as though he _knows_ the things that Mello hasn't been able to help thinking, wondering lately.

Mello shifts uncomfortably on the spot, breaking eye contact and staring at a point somewhere just to the right of Near's head. "Yeah, so?" he challenges. Near does not answer immediately, but instead moves closer to Mello, his hand finally leaving his curls alone before he answers;

"I merely wished to tell Mello something." The white-haired boy says.

"Which would be _what_, sheep?" Mello demands, and he is quite proud of how steady his voice is, considering the distinctly _weird _rhythm that both his heart and his lungs appear to have taken up.

"June put me in mind of it." _('So he _did_ know her name after all- sly devil must've been pretending purposefully.'_ Mello notes distractedly._) _"She said that I have the beauty of the moon. But- the _moon_'s beauty is only ever a pale reflection of the sun's radiance."

Mello _wishes_ Near would stop beating around the bush- the younger boy's never shown an ounce of shyness before, in his own way he's as brazen as Mello, despite not being as outspoken.

"I know that, it's elementary science." Mello snaps, Near's ever increasing proximity making him inordinately antsy for some reason.

"I was not yet finished, Mello." Near chastises him quietly, and Mello is startled to notice _colour_ in his usually paler than milk cheeks. Near clears his throat delicately. "Therefore, comparatively, if I am the moon..." He stands on tiptoe, balancing himself with a hand on Mello's chest, and Mello feels a bright red creep onto his own cheeks as he feels a light, gentle pressure on his neck. "Oh dear, it seems I cannot _quite_ reach... ah well." Near returns to his customary stature, hurriedly twining a finger around his favourite curl. "If _I_ am the moon, then Mello must therefore be the sun."

Mello stares at Near, quite unable to form a reply out of shock. _'Was that...'_

The complete silence that this odd action had caused in the other occupants of the common room is broken by Matt, who whoops delightedly.

"Why don't you just kiss him properly already, Mells?! 'S'about time you got the hint!"

Both Near and Mello ignore the red-head, and Mello clears his throat awkwardly.

"Ze... ahem, _the_ sun?" he asks, his already pink face fast approaching crimson as his accent slips into his voice.

He vehemently curses the slip- he'd thought he'd rid himself of that distinctive Russian lilt. He'd have to work harder- in Wammy's House it was frowned upon as a lack of discipline and a dangerous slip if foreign children did not lose or at least hide their accents swiftly due to the potential for identification if their accent could be placed.

Near gives a small, though actually genuine smile. "The sun." He affirms, twisting his hair ever tighter around his finger.

"Ah." Mello says awkwardly, shifting his weight from side to side indecisively, before taking Near's hand from his hair with an uncharacteristic gentleness. Near looks up at him inquisitively, eyes slightly wary. "Screw it." Mello murmurs resolutely, making his decision. He swoops down, pulling the younger boy flush against his own body, deftly capturing Near's lips with his own. "_That's_ how you do it, sheep." he whispers quietly into Near's ear. But this time the insult has no bite to it.

There is a cacophony of cheers, whistles, excited whispers and even loud, dramatic sobs from the others in the common-room, but as with Matt, both he and Near ignore them. Mello is pleasantly surprised to feel slim arms twine about his neck.

"Ah." Near nods. "Like _this_..." And he returns the kiss as expertly as he does everything else. Mello has to wonder- if _he_ is the sun, then why is the _moon_ always outshining him?

~*~*~*~

The moon so harsh with chilling tides

It drowns me, oh it drowns me

So let me stay, oh let me stay

Trapped hidden in the sunlight.

Dance with me, my clouds, my stars, my hopes, my dreams

And hide me love, oh hide me love

From that which we call moonlight.

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So a semi-fluff fic with a tad bit of melancholy at the end.. I do not know how that happened.

The verse at the end is a part of a poem I found somewhere, yet cannot remember the author of. There is another part which will feature on the second of the two fics.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Leave a review if you like!

Smile! :D

~Ireina


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